Bio/CMOS Interfaces and Co-Design

This textbook demonstrates new paradigms for the interface between CMOS circuits and the biological world. A deep theoretical description of such an interface is defined and discussed, while various real applications are demonstrated by also discussing several analog CMOS circuits. Electrochemical techniques are proposed in detail to learn how to design integrated biosensors. Biological materials are described to provide devices selectivity. Nanoscale materials are discussed to provide device sensitivity. CMOS circuits are analyzed to provide real applications. Extensive examples with solutions are provided, as well as exercises at the end of each chapter.

This book introduces students to the state-of-the-art in Bio/CMOS interfaces, describing leading-edge research in CMOS design and VLSI development for applications requiring intimate integration of biological molecules onto the chip. It provides multidisciplinary content ranging from biochemistry to CMOS design in order to address Bio/CMOS interface co-design in biosensing applications.

Sandro Carrara is an IEEE Fellow for his outstanding record of accomplishments in the field of design of nanoscale biological CMOS sensors. He is also the recipient of the IEEE Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award in 2016 for his leadership in the emerging area of co-design in Bio/Nano/CMOS interfaces. He is a Professor at the EPFL, the École Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (Switzerland). He is former professor of optical and electrical biosensors at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Biophysics (DIBE) of the University of Genoa (Italy) and former professor of nanobiotechnology at the University of Bologna (Italy). He holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from University of Padua (Italy), a Master degree in Physics from University of Genoa (Italy), and a diploma in Electronics from National Institute of Technology in Albenga (Italy). His scientific interests are on electrical phenomena of nano-bio-structured films, and include CMOS design of biochips based on proteins and DNA. Along his carrier, he published 8 books with prestigious publishers, including this book with Springer about Bio/CMOS interfaces and a Handbook of Bioelectronics with Cambridge University Press. He also published more than 350 scientific papers and is author of 17 patents. He is now Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Sensors Journal (one of the largest among more than 220 IEEE publications); he is also founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal BioNanoScience by Springer, and Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems. He is an executive member of the IEEE Sensors Council and was a member of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the IEEE Circuits And Systems Society (CASS). He has been appointed as IEEE Sensors Council Distinguished Lecturer for the years 2017-2019, and CASS Distinguished Lecturer for the years 2013-2014. His work received many international recognitions: several Top-25 Hottest-Articles (2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, and two times in 2012) published in highly ranked international journals such as Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Sensors and Actuators B, IEEE Sensors journal, and Thin Solid Films; Best Student Paper Award at the International Conference MOCAST in 2022 (in Bremen); the Best Paper Award by the Sensors Council at the IEEE Symposium MeMeA in 2020 (Bari); Best Paper Award at the IEEE Sensors Conference in 2019 (Montréal), the Gold Leaf Prize at the 1st IEEE NGCAS Conference in 2017 (Genoa), Best Paper Award at the MOBIHEALTH Conference in 2016 (in Milan); three Best Paper Awards at the IEEE PRIME Conference in 2015 (Glasgow), in 2010 (Berlin), and in 2009 (Cork); three Best Poster Awards at the EMBEC’17 Conference in 2017 (Tampere), at the Nanotera workshop in 2011 (Bern),  and at the NanoEurope Symposium in 2009 (Rapperswil); a NATO Advanced Research Award in 1996 for his original contribution to the physics of single-electron conductivity in nanoparticles. He also received the Best Referees Award from the journal Biosensor and Bioelectronics in 2006. From 1997 to 2000, he was a member of an international committee at the ELETTRA Synchrotron in Trieste. From 2000 to 2003, he was scientific leader of a National Research Program (PNR) in the field of Nanobiotechnology. He was an internationally esteemed expert of the evaluation panel of the Academy of Finland in a research program for the years 2010-2013. He has been the General Chairman of the Conferences IEEE MeMeA 2021, the international symposium in medical measurements and applications, and IEEE BioCAS 2014, the premier worldwide international conference in the area of circuits and systems for biomedical applications.